Cushendun looks like a Cornish village that has been dropped, by mistake, on the coast of County Antrim, and in a sense it was. In the 1920s, the local landowner, Ronald McNeill, Lord Cushendun, commissioned the Welsh architect Clough Williams-Ellis, the creator of Portmeirion, to design a set of cottages around the green in memory of his Cornish wife. The result is a neat curve of whitewashed houses with slate roofs, now owned by the National Trust, and quite different in style from anything else on the Antrim coast. It is a quiet, small place, with a beach, a river mouth and a pub, and it has the feeling of a secret.
The village stands at the foot of Glendun, one of the nine Glens of Antrim, a series of deep green valleys cut into the plateau. Scotland is startlingly close here: on a clear day, the Mull of Kintyre can be seen across the North Channel, only about twenty kilometres away. The sea caves at the end of the beach, carved into red sandstone, have featured in a famous television fantasy series. Irish and Scottish Gaelic cultures have long mingled in this corner of the island, and the Glens still have a distinct identity.
The coast road between Cushendall and Ballycastle, the A2, is the best part of the Causeway route for riders. It rises and falls along the cliffs, with long sweeping views of the sea and the glens, bends that come in a pleasing rhythm, and a surface that is generally good. Traffic is lighter than on the Causeway end, though still busy in the summer holiday season. The weather can be changeable, with sea mist, drizzle and strong winds, and a clear day is a gift. The best time of year is late spring and early summer, when the gorse is in bloom and the days are long.
The scenery is gentle yet wild: green fields running to the cliff edge, white-washed farmhouses, and the dark outline of Rathlin Island on the horizon. Seabirds nest on the cliffs, and basking sharks and porpoises are sometimes spotted offshore in summer. Look for the carved wooden benches and small stone memorials along the route.
Cushendall, about eight kilometres to the south, has a petrol station, and Ballycastle, sixteen kilometres north-west, is the largest nearby town with supermarkets and services. A quiet stroll along the beach in the evening light is an excellent way to end the day.